Renting Vs. Buying

The ultimate question, should I buy my own gear or should I rent?! In the last couple of years I’ve been renting gear. This is definitely part of the vacation and a stop one needs to experience. It usually takes place in a hot room that smells like feet, where there is a long line of people waiting in line to put their feet into wet boots that someone else just used yesterday. Paying for the rental and then having the rental dude say “you need to add insurance”, which throws another 30 euro to the rental (hey, but what is another 30 euro a week after you already paid about 1,700 euro for the week?!).

On the other hand, buying your own gear has definitely an advantage; you get to choose what your gear would look like. You are responsible for its condition and every rock you board under, you feel your heart sting (unlike with rental, you will go off-piste in places where there are just rocks and some snow). Probably the most annoying thing about having your own gear is the fact that you have to carry it around from the taxi to the airport, from the airport to the bus / car / train..

On the money issue, renting is usually about 130 Euro a week where purchasing your own equipment can be anywhere from 1200 Euro and climb up to much more..